They did it to save money-more cards could fit on a sheet by reducing the size a little and less wrapper size was needed, so you got more wrappers per roll. After working their way up to it they went to Giant Size as a marketing strategy to outsize the competition in 1952 with Baseball then Wings, and then after the Bowman purchase in '56 shrank 'em again, starting with Elvis Presley. 132 cards per half sheet vs. the 110 they were using in '56. For Baseball you could print 6 series over 5 sheets essentially (a simplification but close enough) with the saved real estate.
Last edited by toppcat; 02-02-2019 at 10:35 AM.
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